


empty space

by kalypsobean



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Post-Battle of Hogwarts, Pre-Epilogue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-19
Updated: 2016-07-19
Packaged: 2018-07-25 10:21:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7528972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kalypsobean/pseuds/kalypsobean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry knows Ginny has her <i>own</i> set of worries to deal with; he can't put his own into words, let alone burden her with it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	empty space

**Author's Note:**

> For a prompt at [comment_fic](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/736452.html?thread=97479364#t97479364) by classics_lover:
> 
>  
> 
> _Harry Potter, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley + Hermione Granger,_  
>  Hermione: What does Ginny think about everything?  
> Harry: I don't know, I try not to bother her about this kind of stuff.  
> Hermione: You mean like your thoughts and feelings?  
> Harry: Yeah.

"What does Ginny think about everything?" Hermione says. It has become a thing between them; Harry and Hermione, sometimes Ron, sometimes Luna, once even Neville, every Tuesday, in the back corner of some pub, somewhere. Hermione picks it, a different one every week; Harry imagines her going through those restaurant guides, making notes and checking directions on Google Maps. "List of establishments within distance of Safe Apparition Spaces." They haven't repeated a one so far, though Harry suspects Hermione also casts a Muffliato charm on everyone before he arrives.

 

Those times still linger in the back of their minds; Harry has nightmares, Hermione is paranoid and careful, always looking over her shoulder. And Harry's too, for that matter. Into his business.

 

"I don't know; I try not to bother her about this kind of stuff." Harry knows Ginny has her _own_ set of worries to deal with; he can't put his own into words, let alone burden her with it. She spends at least one night at home every week; Ron said they tried not to leave their mother alone, after Fred, and Harry's been drawn into the rotation, once or twice, under the guise of needing actual food. 

 

"You mean like your thoughts and feelings?" Hermione makes it sound disapproving, as if of course Harry should be telling Ginny that he dreams he wakes up in a tent, looking into the eyes of a headless snake, not knowing if it's the wind or Parseltongue that he hears. 

 

"Yeah," says Harry. "Those." He leans back; he always gets butterbeer, never touches it. "I dunno, Hermione, I feel like home, with Ginny, it's a place where all that isn't, if you know what I mean." He can tell Hermione doesn't get it; she deals with Ron, and they never seem to forget. But he goes home, tired, with all these things in his head from work, the nightmares, and they don't talk; the silence fills all the gaps and feels sort of like a blanket, warm and cosy and dark underneath, safe. 

 

"You should talk to her, though." Hermione says, and for once she's the first to leave. Harry watches her go, head down but looking left and right, her hands moving if she has to stand still. 

 

Harry thinks, if he lets it all back out of the deep dark hole he shoved it in, he'll end up like her. He figures Ginny knows enough, what with being there, enough to decide she doesn't want to know the rest. Leaning back in the booth, he can see a flash of red hair through the window. He expects it to be Ron, late as always and sputtering that he'd managed to miss his own wife. Instead, it's Ginny, and she nudges him until he moves over, making enough room for her.

 

"So this is where you all go every week," she says, and of course she would have noticed her husband, brother and sister-in-law all being late on the same night. Harry probably should have figured that out earlier, and came up with an explanation. "Does it help?" she says, and she pulls the glass towards her without asking.

"Not really," Harry says. "I think it helps them, though."

"Good," Ginny says. "Mum wants everyone over tonight; you ready?"

"Yeah," says Harry. "Let's go." He lets Ginny pull him out onto the street and away from people, back to where there are no crowds, no people pointing, and he can just be, without everyone's expectations. 

 

He never needed to tell Ginny he preferred the quiet.


End file.
